YOU MUST READ THIS

Changing gears from a hobbyist to a professional photographer involves an array of legalities. Before proclaiming yourself as a professional photographer, you must look into a variety of legal aspects that form the backbone of your photography business.

You must look at what sort of business structure you opt for and whether you have registered yourself with the revenue department of your state. In addition, ensure that you create a separate financial account before you start your business and have an adequate amount of liability insurance. Having acted on the above, you might still be short of putting all your ducks in a row.

Here’s what you probably will overlook:

1. The self-employment tax

This is where most beginners falter. If you are a self-employed photographer, you are required to pay an additional percentage of tax from your total income (varies from state to state). In order to prevent an audit filed against you -consult an attorney.

2. Tangible property transfer

In case you’re providing your customers with any “tangible property” (CD / DVD /thumb-drive etc), you are required to collect sales tax from them for your service. Failing to do this can get you a nasty surprise at the end of the year.

3. Copyright photos

One of the laborious task after turning into a pro, includes legally getting copyright over your photographs. You must register your photographs with the copyright department of your state (for eg, US copyright department) to prevent copyright infringement. You are not liable to take any legal action against the infringer, if not registered.

4. Tax deduction via your website

Make sure you maintain proper record of your business activities to file them in and get tax deduction. Don’t forget the subscription fees for your photography website as online photo hosting costs are tax deductible business expenses. Hers’s a good place to create your photography website.

As Benjamin Franklin rightly said, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” We couldn’t agree more – there is certainly no getting away from either!

Amit Sharma is a lifestyle photographer specializing in travel and fashion photography. Based out of New Delhi, Amit has been involved with photography shoots for various top-tier brands. In a recent interview with us, he talks about his experience with photography, the legalities involved and his experience with Pixpa.

1. Did your early photographic goals include earning a living from photography, or did it start as a way to express yourself creatively?

When I started shooting, all I wanted was to shoot good pictures. The kind of pictures I had seen in books, magazines, posters etc. I had no idea that its possible to make money from photography. There was no internet, no digital, no platform to showcase your work. There were only some books available.

2. You do a lot of lifestyle photography for well-known clients such as The Collective. What can be some shortcomings for those partaking in lifestyle photography?

Lifestyle Photography is a largely misunderstood term here and often confused with fashion. Fashion and Portraiture is a big part of “lifestyle” imagery but its not all. The shortcoming is people need to understand the term in depth and look at what’s happening internationally. Also when you restrict yourself to a style the work becomes very limited.

Amit Sharma Photography

3. You have shot for various fashion magazines like Femina, Cosmopolitan, Travel and Leisure, etc. Which of them has been the best experience for you?

My best experience has to be shooting for Travel+Leisure magazine. You go out on a destination, see new places and shoot at will. Cant get any better than that.

4. How important is it for you to be true to the subject when shooting? How does that create an impact on your photographs?

Well, the point is that the purpose of any photograph is to convey an idea, a story or evoke an emotional response. How close you reach your intended objective, should be the criteria for judging one’s work. Whenever I shoot on “commissioned projects”, I try and stay as close as possible to the original objective of shooting that picture. This may not always hold true for your personal work as It tends to be a little more free and experimental. Even then I feel there is always a subject that has to be done justice to.

5. What are some of the legalities associated with the assignments that you work on? How easy, or difficult is it for you to negotiate the terms and conditions for your photography?

The usage rights in terms of duration and territory are some of the major issues. Some clients want all the data captured during a project which is a strict NO NO. Digital capture and post processing charges is another area where clients need some spoon feeding.

Some clients do understand international norms and they do understand our rights. Its rather much more important for photographers to be aware of these things and stay united.

Amit Sharma Photography

6. Do you actively share your knowledge on photography with those in the same industry, and those interested in taking up photography professionally?

Absolutely, without a doubt. The industry and photography community has to move together.

7. Pixpa is revered by photographers, artists, designers and illustrators from around the world. As a photographer why do you think they should build a portfolio with Pixpa?

I made my website with Pixpa when they had just started. It offered a clutter free design which was very efficient, fast and very easy to operate with almost no downtime at all. And with time things have only got better. All the above reasons should be enough for any artist to showcase his or her work.

Kristina Rolander is a visual artist living and working in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She makes large-scale paintings and immersive environments. A while back, Kristina realised that her work wasn’t reaching the type or size of an audience she desired when showing in galleries, so she began collaborating with musicians, making custom works to be installed for live shows.

Kristina currently creates handpainted backdrops and is slowly embarking into the world of immersive stage design.

“Milwaukee has an amazing music scene and within it, I’ve found a community full of talented creatives crossing over genres and open to collaboration.”

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

In addition to being a visual artist, I’m a mama to two children – Julien (11) and Vera (5). My son is a musician with a design sensibility and my daughter is a painter with a fashionista personality. My boyfriend, Joey Grihalva, is a writer that covers the music scene in Milwaukee and despite working with different mediums, we are a united creative force. It’s a house heavily immersed in art, music, and culture, and it’s a great time to be an artist in Milwaukee.

Describe to us your college days at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design?

MIAD was very, very intense. I attended college on my own dime and was very aware of needing to extract every possible opportunity from the institution. There was a lot of flux within the school – power plays between the old art school mindsets vs. the new. We had yet to experience the impact of social media and digital technology. We were still grinding limestone rocks in Lithography class and developing film in the darkroom. I’ve always felt as if I’m straddling the line between analogue and digital worlds. I use the computer as a powerful tool in my skill set, but I don’t prefer it for artmaking. For artmaking, I’d much rather use physical materials and create something with my hands.

At MIAD, every student was required to choose a major area of focus. This was difficult for me as I was pushing for an interdisciplinary path. I eventually went into Printmaking at the advice of an instructor. I liked how physical it was, how I could push and pull materials, dig and carve into metal plates, smash colours together through a press. It was also the department with the smallest amount of students enrolled. I was well aware that I could exploit this for my own artmaking exploration. For my senior thesis, I created multiple installations with objects, paintings, video, but with very little Printmaking presence. I definitely found the loopholes in order to make the work I wanted to make, while still meeting the objectives of the class.

How clear were you on what lay ahead?

I really wasn’t at all! However, back then I would’ve told you I had it all figured out. Honestly, I could never have predicted the path my life would take. After graduating from MIAD I worked in a thrift store for minimum wage until I landed a temporary production design job. I was illegally living in my warehouse art studio with a handful of other artists when my best friend and I decided to leave Milwaukee and move to New York City. I had $500 and a one-way ticket. In October of 2002, we both packed a suitcase and headed to the city. We had no friends and lived together in a small room inside a family’s brownstone for the first six months.

My plan was to go to graduate school for film. At the end of college, I got really into avant-garde video and landed in NYC with an idea to “remake the music video.” It’s funny how music has always been the common thread throughout my life. In middle school, I thought I would grow up and design CD covers for bands. In high school, I thought I would be in a band. In college, I briefly flirted with the idea of photographing musicians for Rolling Stone after documenting a few years of my high school boyfriend’s band. When I moved to NYC, I started making collage-type paintings with lyrics scrawled all over, while hitting local shows at night and documenting them with my video camera. Now, I collaborate directly with musicians, blending all of the skills I’ve accumulated thus far – design, installation, painting, and concepting. It’s surreal when you look back at the entire picture of your life and career.

What or who inspired you in your early days?

Everything + anything! I’ve always found really strong women to attach myself to, placing them in mentorship roles. My professor in college, Lynn Tomaszewski, was and is a huge inspiration. As a child, I loved Stevie Nicks and Keith Haring. As a teenager “Siamese Dream” by The Smashing Pumpkins changed my life. In college, I loved Basquiat + Rauschenberg. I’ve been continually inspired by thrift stores, poetry, rock stars, song lyrics, 1970s television, crescendos, adventure … all of the places I’ve ever seen … and all of the people I’ve ever known.

What projects are you currently working on?

For 2017, my goal is to push the stage design elements of my work. I’d like to integrate more installation and create something more immersive for the live shows. I’m currently working on my second project of the year, a stage design for The Fatty Acids album release show. I will be collaborating with Wes Tank who will be creating live visuals and projecting them onto my stage design. It’s my biggest challenge yet and we are both excited by the haphazard surprise element that may happen when it all comes together for the live show.

How would you describe your visual style?

How has music influenced your life?

“MUSIC IS EVERYTHING” … this is a phrase that my friend Ava once said, which kind of became our informal mission statement. Really, it’s that simple. Music is everything. Music has the power to immediately tap into human emotion, connect and transform us through live performance. Music allowed me to feel when I was numb due to my life exploding all around me. Music gave me a community to belong to. Music brought me the love of my life. Music is the most beautiful form of human expression. Music has saved so many people in their loneliest and darkest moments. It brings us joy. It sings our pain. It makes us feel alive.

Which of your recent works is closest to your heart and why?

The “Bizarro Jungle” set that I created custom for Oakland, CA band Shannon and the Clams is one that I am very proud of. The owner of the venue they played in Milwaukee (Company Brewing) requested I make a backdrop for their show, however, Shannon asked to buy it after they played. The band took it on tour and back home with them to California. It is the highest profile band I’ve ever created for and to make somebody that happy, that I’ve never met, was an incredible feeling. It was also a turning point for my career as it was the first backdrop I received payment for. Months later, I came across photos online of La Luz playing in front of my backdrop! Turns out, Shannon had put it up at one of her Oakland events, a tropicalia themed dance party that La Luz was headlining. To see my little backdrop baby out in the world, sharing the stage with La Luz and bringing joy to people in California made my heart soar. This is the type of stuff that makes it all worthwhile and keeps me invested. It is what keeps me coming back for more.

If you could go back ten years, what advice would you give yourself?

Not to worry so much, that we all have our own timeline. To enjoy your babies a bit more and worry about your lack of artmaking a little less. That you’ll get there eventually, slow and steady. That you can’t buy time and life experience. That life experience is ultimately what makes the work interesting. So go live your life. Experience it. Be free. The work will follow.

What excites you when you look ahead?

That I have no idea what is gonna happen! I always make a list of goals at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year I look back in awe at what was actually accomplished. I also laugh at what I thought was important but eventually fell away and was forgotten. I’m excited to push my work outside of Milwaukee. I’m excited to meet new bands and musicians and collaborators to work with. Mostly, I’m looking forward to (eventually) quitting my day job and becoming a full-time artist. That’s probably the dream I most look forward to and if I pull it off, I’ll be amazed and in awe of what we as humans are capable of.

Any words of wisdom for artists starting out and trying to find their rhythm?

Make a lot of work, don’t stop, just keep making it. You are gonna make a lot of bad work, and you might think at the moment it is profound and revolutionary (I did!) but don’t make it for anyone else. Make it for you. It will get you somewhere and when you look back, you will see clearly how you needed to make that work in order for you to get to that next step. Find mentors. Talk to people. Be kind. Collaborate! Be open. Know that your ideas are not your own but part of a collective conscious, with many others tapped into the same wavelength. Find those others. Find your tribe. Don’t give up. If you keep one foot in front of the other, eventually you’ll get where you need to be. And lastly, eat the fear.

How has your website helped you?

My website is very important as it acts as a complete visual portfolio that anyone in the world can access at any time. I use Instagram like a blog with more lifestyle and process shots, but my website is my professional landing page. Pixpa works nicely for me as it allows my photos to take centre stage, while the rest of the design maintains a minimalist aesthetic that I desire. My artwork should do the heavy lifting. My website should easily support the content that is already there.

This week, we had the privilege to interview a very versatile photographer from India, Atul Pratap Chauhan. Here’s him sharing with us his passion for the medium, his take on weddings in India and working with some of the top-notch brands in the hospitality sector.

1. When did you first know that you wanted to be a photographer? Did you undertake any professional training in the field?

Actually it was a while back, around 2006. I started my career with the hotel industry; there professional shoots would happen all the time, right in front of my eye, so I got my initial inspiration from there. But Bangalore was the real deal! I met a photographer there who was shooting food at our restaurant and that’s when I got bowled over with this whole thing. I totally fell in love with the shoot. I was particularly impressed by the role of light in photography, which is still such a vast subject actually and how good pictures get clicked in that perfect second!

APC Photography

2. In India particularly, weddings are a grand affair and can be tiresome for all parties involved. How do you prepare yourself better to undertake a wedding assignment?

Yes weddings in India are super grand and it gets very tiring if it’s not planned properly. I don’t take too many wedding bookings; I do only 12 to 15 in a year and my focus is solely on destinations weddings. In fact, from last year I’ve also started doing wedding films. So it’s been a busy affair for me. But the thing is, I love photography and love shooting weddings and the emotions especially and I think when you truly love something then you really don’t get tired instead you enjoy your work completely.

3. As a highly-acclaimed and written about photographer, what do you feel are five essentialities a novice photographer must keep in mind to better establish themselves in the field?

1-Research, lots of research and actually daily research.

2-Don’t lose hope if you’re not getting the shot. Keep trying and experiment with lights.

3-Read ‘real’ books and try to stay away from information overload on the internet.

4-It doesn’t matter how hard you work + the super long shifts but the moment you hold the camera in your hand, you should be as fresh as ever.

5-Follow less people, get your originality out!

APC Photography

4. You’ve shot for some of the biggest brand names in the hospitality sector, print industry and agencies. Having covered diverse genres, what according to you, if any, are some of the challenges one must be prepared to face when indulging with such vast, high-end clientele?

As I mentioned, photography is my real love; yes I love my wife too?! I face more challenges in advertising and commercial photography than wedding photography.

My focus is on what the clients want and I try and mix my art with that.

To be honest, shooting hotels and food is a lot more complicated and requires a keen eye. Understanding of the studio lighting along with food and interiors is really important and the challenge is to get to make all the three work in your favor. Planning your shot as per the client’s need is also quite a task and when you’re able to get what the client actually wants, it’s time for a smile?

5. Photography is a dynamic profession. There are new aspects – techniques, equipment, resources and concepts uncovered frequently. How do you update and educate yourself in the field.

It is indeed a dynamic profession and it requires a lot of knowledge skills also. You improve your techniques with the right research and of course, the right attitude. Right attitude doesn’t come easy. It takes a lot of body bending! I conceptualize most of my shoots but I have a good team too. Sometimes I get great concepts from agencies. Working with good art directors is also important, I learn a lot from them. On the self, I draw my learning’s from books but more importantly daily life. It’s a great teacher & it teaches you a lot!

APC Photography

6. What are some of your favorite books on learning the art of photography and what about them do you love?

I reserve 5% of my each assignment fee for getting books. I love books where there is simplicity and they actually teach you the greatness of craft. Some of the ones I love are –

The photography of modernist cuisine

India – A Timeless Celebration by Amit Mehra

50 portraits by Gregory Heisler

Annie Leibovitz at work

Complete

collection of Ashok Dilwali

7. You have one of the most elegantly designed online portfolios for a photographer on pixpa.com. Share your experience on engaging with us.

Pixpa is a great platform to showcase your work online and that’s the reason I have three Websites on Pixpa.

It’s great with Google rankings, easy to operate and the Pixpa team in general is very helpful.

#IMPAMELA ON INSTAGRAM

LATEST NEWS

We live in a visually driven society. Not only does the art of photography impact our daily lives, it has promising implications for the future of our world. Historically speaking, photos were reserved

This month, the spotlight is on Avantika Meattle. In this interview, she talks about her seven year long stint in Bollywood, her travels across the world, and her return to Delhi as a wedding photographer

Meet Matthew Pendergast, producer, director, and above all, a man with a deep love for exploration. In this exclusive interview, the San Francisco-based Matthew Pendergast tells us more about his experiences